Saxophone-supporting cord



May 25 ,1925. r

. 5 A. S. LANG SAXOPHONE SUPPORTING CORD F1154: Sept; 19, 1925 Patented May 25, 1926.

UNITED STATES ALBION sLA'YToiI LANG, or JAMAICA PLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS;

sAxoPHonmsUPPonTm-e ooRD.

Application filed September 19, 1925. ser ai m, SW94.

This invention relates to a saxophone cord such as is used by saxophone players to support the weight of the saxophone while it is being played. These saxophone supports are usually in the term of a strap,

or cord which is hung ahou't the neckof the player and which supports at its lower end a hook adapted to hook into an eye formed on the saxophone. I Y

It is a desider'atuni that these saxophone supporting cords should he capahle of adjustment as to their length so as to holdthe saxophone at the proper height and one of the objects of my invention is to provide a novel manner of adju-s'ting-thecord or support so as to provide an infinite variety of adjustments.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a novel cord ooiistrnction which will not only permit of this infinite Variety oi adjustments "but will securely lock the cord in any adjusted position.

Other advantages resulting from my invention will he hereinafter referred to;

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have ilitistfatdi in the drawings a selected embodiment t lie'reiot which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is avi-ew of a saxophone player playing a saxophone, the-saxophone being supported by improved cord;

Fi IS a' aers'e'etive View of the su porting cord;

Fig. 3 shows-how the loop which isplaced around the neck of the wearer may be enlarged to facilitate placing the" cord position or removing it therefrom Without, however, disturbing the adjustment as" to the length of the cord;

' Fig. 4 il l ustrates the operation ofshorteningtlie cord i Figs.- -5- and" 6' illustrate the-steps 1n the operation of lengthening the cord;

Fig;- 7 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the way in which the cord is formed into" the loops.

In Fig. 1,-1- =indicates asaxophone player andQ a saxoph'one'whichhe p layln'g. This saxophone is" providedwith the usual eye 3 which receives a hook 4 supported at the lowerend of a supporting co'r'd or member which is I placed arouiic lthe neck" of the player I The support herein shown is in the torn-i 01 an endless cord or flexible member which is arranged to present a single loop at its upper end which is placed around the neck of the wearer and a double loop at its lower end on which the hook 4t is supported; The adjustment as to the length of the cord is effected varying the relative amounts of the length of the cord which are located in the single and double loops. It the amount of the length of the cord in the double loop is increased this will shorten the" total effective length of "the support while if the total amount of the iength of the cord in the double loop is decreased and that in the single loop increased this will have the effect of lengthening the support.

The entire support is formed from a cord portion and a strap portion 6, these two being iconnecte'd to form a continuous or endless structure. The strap portion 6 is adapted to encircle the neck of the wearer and as hereinshown theencls 7 of the cord portion 5 are permanently connected to :the ends of the straps 6, the latter having eyelets 8 therein through which the ends of the cord 5 are looped. So as the invention is concerned,- however, the portion of the support which passes around the neck of the wearer might equally he made of a cord '5 as wellas'astrap.

The supporting cordis looped or arranged to form a single loop 9 at its upper end and a double loop liO at its lower end. The 11001; 4 is .snpponted on the double loop 10 and the single loop :9 is placed around the" neck of the wearer. The division between-the two ioopsz9 and 1 0 is tormedby anadjusting sleeve 11.

In order to understand the structure" of the single and double loops ,itmay be well to brace out the manner in which the cord :5 is threaded through the sleeve 11 and thnongh the eye 1210f the hooks 4.- Starting up along "the right nand side of the doubl-e loop 10 as shown at 17, said cord again passing through the sleeve 11 and thence up the left hand side of the single loop 9 as shown at 18. lVith this construction the double loop 10 is in the nature of a two-ply loop, it having two loop portions each of the same size and situated in parallelism.

The adjustment of the length of the support is secured by putting more or less of the total length of the cord in the double loop 10, in other words, by enlarging or diminishing the double loop 10 and correspondingly diminishing or enlarging the single loop 9. This may be done by sliding the sleeve 11 up and down. If, for instance, the sleeve 11 is moved upwardly or sepa rated from the hook 41-, as might be done by grasping the hook 4c with one hand and the sleeve with the other and forcing them apart, such action will result in drawing some of the cord forming the loop 9 into the double loop 10 and because the loop 10 is a double loop the amount which is taken out of the loop 9 thereby to shorten it will be divided between the two parts of the loop 10 and said loop 19 will, therefore, be lengthened by an amount only one-half that which the loop 9 is shortened. Hence by this operation the total effective length of the support can be shortened. G11 the other hand, if some of the length of the cord is taken out of the double loop 10 and placed in the loop 9 the total effective length of the cord will be lengthened because the loop 9 will be lengthened by twice the amount that the loop 10 is shortened.

One feature of the present invention relates to a means for locking the cord at any adjusted length and while this lock may be of any suitable character and applied to any part of the cord I have for illustrative purposes shown it as associated with the hook l. Said hook has a locking projection 19 extending therefrom with which co-operates a ring 20 that is slidable on the double loop 10, and which is adapted to be slipped over the projection 19 for locking the supporting cord in any adjusted position. While the cord is being adjusted as to its length the ring 20 is slipped upwardly on the loop 10 as shown in Figs. l, 5 and 6 and when in this position the double loop 10 can be freely adjusted. After the adjustment is etfected the hook :1 is turned so that the projection 19 is in line with the sides of the loop 10 so as to encircle the projection 19 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When in this position the locking ring 20 firmly clamps the sides of the loop and the projection 19 together and thus creates sufiicient friction on the loop so that the sides thereof cannot be slid through the eye 12 of the hook & by any ordinary force.

It will be noted that the upper end of the projection 19 is bent outwardly slightly and;-

when the saxophone is supported on the hook at the weight of the saxophone tends to throw the upper end of said projection 19 to the right, which action tends to prevent the ring 20 from accidentally moving upwardly.

If it is desired to shorten the cord the ring 20 will first be slipped upwardly into the position shown in Fig. 4 thereby to disengage it from the projection 19 and then the operator will grasp the sleeve in one hand and will pull on the hook t with the other, this operation serving to draw some of the length of the single loop 9 through the sleeve 11 and distribute it in the two parts of the double loop 10.

To lengthen the support the operator applies downward pressure on the sleeve 11 while the upper end of the loop 9 is held stationary, as would be the case if it were around the neck of the wearer. This operation slides the sleeve downwardly from the dotted line position Fig. 3 to the full line position and in so doing a portion of the sides 14 and 17 of the double loop are transferred through the sleeve into the loop 9. The sides 16 and 15 will bulge outwardly during this operation as shown in Figs. 3 and Then while holding the sleeve 11 stationary the operator pulls downwardly on the hook 4 and this will result in distributing the slack of the sides 16 and 15 indicated by the loops 21 in the two sides of the double loop 10 as shown in Fig. (5. These two steps thus will transfer some of the cord forming the double loop 10 into the loop 9. These operations may be re peated as many times as necessary to give the support its required length and after the right adjustment is made the adjustment is locked by sliding the ring 20 down over the projection 19 as shown in Fig. 2.

will be observed that with this construction an infinitenumber of adjustments can be secured, that is, the support may be lengthened or shortened any amount between the Zero and the maximum adjustment. This makes a universal adjustment by which every saxophone player can adjust his saxophone to exactly the right height.

The construction has the further advantage in that it provides means whereby the loop 9 can be enlarged to facilitate the placing of the support over the head of the player or removing it without losing the adjustment. The enlarging of the loop 9 is accomplished simply by forcing the sleeve 11 downwardly, as for instance from the dotted line position to the full line position Fig. 3. If this is done while the locking ring 20 is still. in locking engagement with the projection 19 then the enlarging of the loop 9 will in no wise disturb or change the length of the support. This enables a saxophone player to enlarge the loop 9 in order to more conveniently place the sup ort over his head or to remove it, without anger that in so doing he will lose the correct adjustment as to the length.

Although I have herein illustrated a support arranged to present a single loop at its upper end a double loop at its lower end yet the invention is not necessarily limited in its application to a support having this con struction. Furthermore, while the particular form of lock herein shown is one associated with the hook yet the invention is not limited to such particular type as in its broad aspect it is intended to cover a saxophone cord support arranged in loops and capable of adjustment as to its length and having any appropriate means for gripping the cord so as to lock the support in any adjusted length.

I claim:

1. A saxophone support comprising an endless flexible supporting member arranged to present at its upper end a single loop to encircle the neck of the wearer, and at its lower end a double loop comprising two loop portions of equal length and having a parallel arrangement, a hook on which the saxophone may be hung, said hook having an eye through which both portions of the double loop extend, whereby the member may be adjusted as to its length by shifting a portion of the length thereof from the double to the single loop or vice versa, and means operative to lock the member in any adjusted position.

2. A saxophone support comprising a flexible supporting member formed to present at its upper end a single loop to encircle the neck of the wearer and at its lower end a double loop, a hook supported by the double loop on which a saxophone is adapted to be hung, whereby the member may be adjusted as to its length by shifting a portion of the length thereof from the double to the single loop or vice versa, and means co-operating with said hook for locking the support against adjustment.

3. Asaxophone support comprising a flexible supporting member formed to present at its uper end a single loop to encircle the neck of the wearer and at its lower end a double loop comprising two loop portions of equal length and having a parallel arrangement, a sleeve through which the mem ber passes a plurality of times} at the junction of the loops, whereby the effective length of the support can be adjusted by varying the relative amounts of the length of said members which are in the two loops, a hook on which a saxophone is adapted to be supported, said hook having an eye through which both parts of the double loop pass and means co-operating with said hook to lock the supporting member against adjustment.

4. Asaxophone support comprising a flexible supporting member formed to present at its upper end a single loop to encircle the neck of the wearer and at its lower end a double loop, a sleeve through which the member passes a plurality of times at the junction of the loops, whereby the eflective length of the support can be adjusted by varying the relative amounts of the length of said members which are in the two loops, a hook carried by the double loop on which a saxophone is adapted to be supported, said hook having a projection and a ring slidable on the double loop and cooperating with said projection to lock the support against adjustment.

5. A saxophone support comprising afiexible supporting member constructed to present an upper loop adapted to encircle the neck of the player, and a lower loop, means for adjusting the effective length of the support, a hook supported by the lower loop on which the saxophone is adapted to be hung, and releasable means for gripping the cord to maintain any desired adjustment, said means when released permitting the length of the support to be adjusted.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBION SLAYTON LANG. 

